Here is a brief summary of the first season of active protection and breeding of the Eurasian Curlew in 2025:
In 14 areas, ornithologists found a total of 114 Curlew nests belonging to 94 breeding pairs. This means that a nest was found for nearly every second pair nesting in Poland.
31 nests were secured with portable electric fences, with the largest number - 13, in the Biebrza Refuge and in the Brzozówka valley. The hatching success rate was 68% for protected nests and only 16% for unprotected nests. We know that a total of at least 94 chicks left the nests, and at least 20 of them managed to survive until they were able to fly.
Before the season, we comprehensively equipped two Curlew breeding centers – on the Bug River (TP Bocian) and in the Kurpiowska Refuge (PTOP). Egg incubation and brood rearing were carried out in four locations near the wader refuge – in addition to Mazovia and Kurpie, also in Greater Poland and the Lublin region.
We released 107 young birds into the wild! Before release, the birds were ringed and marked with yellow plastic flags with individual codes, allowing each individual to be identified. Two have already been read at winter camps in the Netherlands and France.
Thanks to the combined effects of nest fencing and artificial rearing, productivity considered sufficient to maintain a stable population, i.e., above 0.5 fledglings per breeding pair, has been achieved.
Numerous dangers still lie ahead for young Curlews. Some of them will survive, return from their wintering grounds, and join the Polish population.
Thanks to a consistently implemented program to protect the Eurasian Curlew, it has been possible to halt the dramatic decline in its numbers in Poland and stabilize the population, and even record a slight increase.
